Things Not To Learn From Your Trainer

Last week, I finished up a 34 hour break and departed late Friday nite, picked up a load of starch in Chicago, bound for Morgan City Louisiana. I headed down to Effingham Il, took a break, and made the rest of the trip to West Memphis, Ar and fueled then headed for La. I arrived there sometime after midnite and crashed out, then got up in the morning and unloaded, then headed for Fort Worth Tx to get the trailer washed out. After the wash, I turned North, heading for Kansas and my next pickup on Monday.

Sunday nite found me on the north side of Oklahoma City. I pulled into a truckstop, fueled, and then found a parking spot. there was a fence on the east side, then a flatbed carrying I beams, and the spot I chose. I backed in, did my evening paperwork, and then walked over to grab a bit for myself and the dog. As we ate, the flatbed next to me left, and a bit later someone else decided to take that spot.

As the truck from "Super Mega Coolie Carriers Inc" backed in, I flicked on my parking lights, to make sure he could see me. he backed in, and got the rear of the trailer past, so I turned my attention back to the book I was reading. Then I heard a crashing noise and he came to a stop.

I got out and walked back to see what had happened, and the driver had managed to back his trailer into the light pole behind him, knocking it to the ground. The driver came out and looked at it, then said he didn;t understand how this could have happened. (I had no trouble understanding it. An 80,000 pound truck had attacked a 120 pounds lightpole with fairly predictable results!).

Then the driver made the comment hat made me struggle mightily to maintain a straight face. He said that his trainers had taught him that as long as he lined the front of his truck up with the truck alongside of him, he would have adequate clearance in the back. I managed to maintain a civil demeanor as I pointed out to him that I was driving a 209" wb truck and pulling a 41' trailer, and he was driving around with about 230" wb and a 53 foot wagon.

I could see the gears meshing, clicking and whirring in his head as he struggled to put this information into some form of mathematical formulae that would prevent this in the future.

Bottom line, if anyone out there is being told this kind of info, it only works if the truck alongside of you is the same size as yours is. There are some of us that pull shorter trailers and like to back ourselves in out of harms way. His trainers done him wrong.....